Quick Tips for Better English: crazy verbs

A few tidbits about the VERB in English

Here is a selection of points that will help you in your writing. Writing is not easy for anyone, especially if you are new to English or if you are an adult who never did much writing.

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You probably know what Nouns and Verbs are. But in this report you will learn about a different kind of verb and a different kind of noun that will help you in your writing. You are ready for this. You know English; now it is time to learn some of the finer points, the Phrasal Verb and the Gerund. But don’t the afraid; we explain them in very clear terms; you also see a very clear explanation of all kinds of adjectives.

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This brief report is valuable in itself and after reading it, we think you will want to get the book ESL and Adult Learner CANWRITERIGHT! that all this comes from.

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You can see the table of contents of the book at the end of this introductory excerpt. The book is especially useful because it is completely cross- referenced among all the points covered, almost all of which have exercises and answers. You will see examples in this brief report.

Subject Verb; Agreement

The person who does something (the subject)has a special relationship to the word that tells us what he or she does (the verb). They have to “agree”.

This feature of English is much easier than it is in other languages. A person learning Spanish or Russian or German or just about any other language has to learn to change the form of the verb according the “person” of the verb (see page 18). That means that the verb changes (is pronounced and spelled differently) according to whether the writer describes:

*
p(<>{color:#000;}. what he or she is doing (first person),

*
p(<>{color:#000;}. what the person that is being spoken to is doing (second person),

*
p(<>{color:#000;}. or whether the actions of some other person are being described (third person).

Let’s take a closer look at this. The idea of subject verb agreement is easy. The subject and verb must agree in number. This means that both must be singular (one person or thing), or both must be plural (more than one person or thing).

This is usually not a problem in English, except in the third person singular of the present tense, where a problems occurs. We have to add an “s” or “es” at the end of the verb when the subject or the being (animal or thing) that is performing the action is a noun or pronoun (see page 57): he,she,it. If you leave off the letter “s” (hetalkfunny) you will be talking or writing incorrectly, in a dialect that uneducated people use.

Notice the difference between singular and plural forms in the following examples: At the same time observe the corresponding pronoun in parentheses for each use of the verb

|
<>. |<>.
p))<>{color:#000;}. Second Person
|<>.
p)<>{color:#000;}. The person spoken to by the subject of the sentence
|<>.
p)<>{color:#000;}. You (one person) eat fish.
|
<>. |<>.
p))<>{color:#000;}. Third Person
|<>.
p)<>{color:#000;}. The person or thing spoken about by the subject of the sentence
|<>.
p)<>{color:#000;}. He eats fish. She eats fish. The cat eats fish.
|
<>. |<>\3.
p<>{color:#000;}. Plural
|
<>. |<>.
p))<>{color:#000;}. First Person
|<>.
p))<>{color:#000;}. The persons who are the subject of the sentence
|<>.
p<>{color:#000;}. We eat fish.
|
<>. |<>.
p))<>{color:#000;}. Second Person
|<>.
p)<>{color:#000;}. The persons spoken to by the subject of the sentence.
|<>.
p<>{color:#000;}. You (several persons) eat fish
|
<>. |<>.
p))<>{color:#000;}. Third Person
|<>.
p)<>{color:#000;}. The persons or things spoken about by the subject of the sentence
|<>.
p<>{color:#000;}. They eat fish.
|

You can see that the only change in the verb in English is in the third person singular of the verb. See what it is? The verb ends with the letter “s”, heeats*.* All the other forms of the verb are the same, the simple verb with no special ending, Ieat,youeat,weeat,theyeat, all are the same word eat with no changes like in other languages.

It is easy enough to write this correctly in simple sentences like those of the table. It gets a little more difficult when the sentences are more complicated. In these cases, many writers make mistakes with the agreement between the subject and the verb.

CrazyEnglishVerbs: the phrasal verb

The strange expressions in English that make you crazy are called phrasal verbs? A phrasal verb is a verb followed by another word, therefore they make a phrase and so are called phrasal verbs. This way of writing creates a meaning different from the original verb.

We already mentioned the problem that my little daughter, Laura, had with a phrasal verb when she said, “I’m throwing up.” To say that she was throwing a ball in the air. Her mistake was with the phrasal verb “to throw up

The following are a FEW examples of the many phrasal verbs in English. They are very common and as you learn them, you will speak and write in a more natural way.

Examples

I ranintoMaryinchurch lastnight. The phrasal verb “run into” does not have the meaning of the word “run” but rather means “meet”.

Theairplanetookoff. The intransitive phrasal verb “take off” does not have the meaning of the word “take” but rather means “leave the ground, become airborne”.

Themantookoffhishat. The transitive phrasal verb “take off” does not have the meaning of the word “take” but rather means “remove, strip, doff”.

With the above examples you can see that some phrasal verbs (the plane took off) do not take an object. They are intransitive. An intransitive verb cannot be followed by an object.

A Few More Examples:

But sometimes, as in the case of (take off your hat) the same phrasal verb can be transitive, that is, they can take an object.

As in the case of Laura, there is a different meaning between the transitive and intransitive phrasal verb. For example, look at the use of the phrasal verb “show up”.

Petersuddenlyshowedup. “show up” means “arrive” or “appear” is intransitive and does not take an object. However, “show up” can be a transitive verb and can be followed by an object.

John showedFrankupinthecompetition. In this case “to show up” means “to better”, “to expose”, “to make a fool of”.

Separable transitive phrasal verbs: Some transitive phrasal verbs can be separated. The object is placed between the verb and the preposition. The two parts of the phrasal verb can be used in different parts of the sentence.

This is a very idiomatic ability that you will learn little by little, not by studying examples such as these in print, but rather by listening, repeating, and writing.

Some transitive phrasal verbs are inseparable. They can’t be separated. The object is always placed after the preposition.

Example:

I ranintoanold friend yesterday.

It cannot be: Irananoldfriendintoyesterday.

Theyarelookingintotheproblem.

It cannot be[-Theyarelookingtheprobleminto.

WARNING! Although many phrasal verbs can take an object in both places, If the object is a pronoun, you must put the object between the verb and the preposition.

Example:

Heshowedherupinthedebate.

Itcannotbe:Heshowedupherinthedebate.

I lookeditupinthephonebook.

Itcannotbe:Ilookedupitinthephonebook.

Special Forms of the Verb

[[The infinitive]The infinitive identifies the represents the word itself with no other changes of form or ending. It is the “to word” in English, like “to eat”, or “comer”, “manger”, “essen” in other languages]

The [[Gerund]A]nother technicalWord? Yes, but once you get the idea, you can forget the stuffy old grammatical word, gerund! It’s a crazy kind of Noun. Sometimes a word can describe a verb and behave like a noun. That is a Gerund.

There are some cases that you have to learn, cases in which the infinitive in your language is not translated by the English infinitive but rather by the gerund which is another form of the verb that ends in the letters “ing”. Many learners never learn this form of the verb and express themselves

poorly when they use the infinitive where it should not be used.

Wedon’tsay: “Ienjoytodoit”. It is an error if we say: “ManyimmigrantsmisstotalkSpanish”.

Youshouldsay:Ienjoydoingit. and ManyimmigrantsmissspeakingSpanish.

This is called the gerund form of the verb but don’t worry about this grammatical name! What matters is that you know how to express yourself correctly in English. There is even a joke among language teachers that reads, “When do you need to know what a gerund is? Answer: “Only when a teacher asks for the definition in a test!”

Usetheform oftheverbwith“ing”inthefollowingcases:

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p()))<>{color:#000;}. after certain words and phrases that begin a sentence. For example, after the verbs that indicate the beginning or end of an activity: Before leaving … After eating….

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p())<>{color:#000;}. when the gerund acts like a noun. For example, swimming is very healthy. The result of swimming is a healthful body. In these cases the word “swimming” acts like a noun because it names an activity.

You will understand the second case much better if you remember the next idea. “Swimming” translates the idea of the name of the sport. The correct word is swimming when you want to write about the sport in which people practice the action of the backstroke or the free style.

When you think about what you do, or the action of swimming,you should use the infinitive. Iliketoswim.Thefather taughthissontoswim,

See the difference between Ilikeswimming and Iliketoswim? Look at the following table and practice the (ing) words.

Look at these examples:
The Question (in bold) and the Answer (in italics)

For example, we can say, Hedislikessmoking. But we can’t say Hedislikestosmoke. We can say,Ifeellikesinging. But we can’t say,Ifeelliketosing. Check out the rest of the verbs on this list yourself. Get used to hearing the correct form and then you will write them correctly.

The following verbs are followed by an infinitive but not by a gerund.

agree,arrange,claim,decide,have,manage,plan,refuse,wait.

We can say, Themenwantto eat. We can’t say, Themenwanteating.

Hereareafewmoreexamples [[]*of*] theuseoftheinfinitiveandthe gerund.

Thedriveravoidedhittingthepedestrian.

[
**]Thepolitician consideredrunningforpresident.

[
**]Idenysayingthat.

Ienjoyeatingicecream.

Thejudgepostponeddeliveringhisopinion.

[
**]Whydoyouresistlisteningtoadvice?

Youhavetostopdoing that.

[OK,] Iagreetogo.

Shedecidednottogo.

Heforgottodohishomework.

[
**]Ihopetodothatsomeday.

Thechildlearnedtotalk.

[
**]Weneedtoeat.

Thetrainwaitedtogo.

[
**]

Gerund Exercise

Correct the use of the gerund and the infinitive if you find an error. Some sentences are OK

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p(<>{color:#000;}. He must avoid to walk until his leg is healed.

#
p(<>{color:#000;}. He decided calling a cab.

#
p(<>{color:#000;}. The instructor apologized for giving a lot of homework.

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p(<>{color:#000;}. The instructor apologized for giving a lot of homework. OK

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p(<>{color:#000;}. He claimed to have found the treasure. OK

#
p(<>{color:#000;}. He finished eating.

#
p(<>{color:#000;}. After eating, we went for a walk.

#
p(<>{color:#000;}. I practice playing the guitar.

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p(<>{color:#000;}. He thought about going to the movie. OK

#
p(<>{color:#000;}. Joe hates eating in restaurants. OK

#
p(<>{color:#000;}. Mary hates to eat in restaurants. OK

#
p(<>{color:#000;}.

Notice that sentences 9 and 10 are both correct. The following are a few verbs that can take either the gerund or the infinitive: begin,continue,hate,love,prefer,start.

Bynow,wehopeyouhaveseenthevalueofthebook,ESL and Adult Learner CANWRITERIGHT!, thatthiscontentstakenfrom.Thefollowingisthetable ofcontentsofthebook. All explanations in the book are as simple as possible with as little “grammatical” words and terms as possible

Writing for advanced ESL (English as Second Language) readers and other interested adult learners. An exploration of the Grammar, Spelling, Usage, as well as a Method that will give them information, skills, and confidence. The book contains extensive cross referencing among related topics. Most of the chapters have exercises and answers.

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